More Bereaved Parents Testify How ‘Bad Medicines’ Killed Their Children in Court
Bereaved Parents at Court © Askanwi
By Edward Francis Dalliah
The ongoing Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) legal battle between some 27 bereaved children against the government and two pharmaceutical companies saw more moving testimonies from parents on how “bad medicines” killed their children.
During cross-examination on Thursday, 30th January 2025, bereaved parent Mr. Masaneh Federa testified under oath, recounting how doctors at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital informed him that there was too much tainted medicine in his son's system, leading to his ultimately death.
When Defence Counsel J. Oketie asked whether he knew that too much medicine could kill his son, Mr. Federa responded that it was the “bad medicine” his son had taken that led to the complications. In a tense moment, the Defence Counsel suggested that an overdose was the cause of death, but the witness strongly disagreed, asserting, “I do not agree with that; the bad medicine is the cause of my son’s death.”
Counsel Oketie continued, questioning the witness’s qualifications: “But you are not a doctor, right? How sure are you?” Mr. Federa responded, maintaining his stance and explaining that when the medicine was taken to the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, it was confiscated.
Similarly, during the cross-examination of another bereaved parent, Isatou Cham, testified that doctors informed her they lacked experience in kidney diseases. Counsel Oketie asked, “Would you say that their inexperience contributed to the death of your son?” The witness responded to say, “What I know is the cause of death was the paracetamol syrup and the cough syrup.” Despite further questioning, she reiterated, “What I can point at is what brought about the sickness; that is what I believe killed my child.”
In July 2022, the WHO alerted the Ministry of Health about a sudden rise in cases of AKI among children in the country. In response to this alert, on 8th August 2022, the Ministry of Health’s Epidemiology and Disease Control Unit confirmed that 28 children between the ages of 5 months and 4 years had died from AKI.
However, in November of that year, the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) held a press conference claiming that floods, and not contaminated syrups, were responsible for the deaths. However, after pressure from multiple stakeholders, including bereaved parents of deceased children, Gambian Parliamentarians launched an investigation.
Their findings concluded that the AKI cases were linked to contaminated medicines imported by Atlantic Pharmaceuticals and manufactured by Maiden Pharmaceutical Ltd. in India but submitted that the exact cause of death remains under scientific investigation. In July 2023, a Presidential Task Force investigated the outbreak and deaths and concluded that contaminated syrups manufactured by Madian Pharmaceuticals in India and imported and distributed by Atlantic Pharmaceuticals in The Gambia led to the deaths of over 70 children.
In court, after several questions and answers between the defence counsels and the witnesses, the presiding judge, Justice Ebrima Jaiteh, adjourned the case. The next hearings are scheduled for 19th March, 26th March, and 3rd April 2025 at 10 am, with nine additional witnesses set to testify in the continuation of the cross-examination.
